Fatal collisions involving transport trucks have jumped by 800 per cent in the northeast region compared to last year.
The OPP released the collision data on July 12, ahead of their Operation Safe Trucking campaign, noting that fatal transport truck collisions are up in all but two of the OPP's six regions.
In the time spanning from Jan. 9 - July 9, there were nine fatal transport truck collisions in the Northeast region, up from just one during the same time period a year ago.
The OPP has investigated more than 3,600 transport truck-related collisions over the six month span, which represent 11 per cent of the total number of collisions (34,461).
The northeast saw the biggest spike in number of fatal collisions, while the northwest saw a decrease of 60 per cent, with just two fatal collisions compared to five over the same span in 2017.
The central region remained unchanged, with two fatal collisions in the six-month span in 2018, the same as in 2017. The east region saw an increase from six to eight fatal collisions, the Highway Safety Division had one more fatal collision that last year, moving from two to three, so too did the west region, going up from eight to nine fatal transport truck collisions.
"The OPP has never been more committed to its Commercial Motor Vehicle Collision Mitigation Strategy. We continue to work diligently with our road safety and trucking industry partners toward our goal of reducing the number of transport truck collisions on our roads," said OPP commissioner Vince Hawkes.
"Despite our efforts, it takes a firm commitment to safe driving on the part of all transport truck drivers and other motorists in order to see a significant reduction in these types of collisions."
The OPP has dedicated close to 4,300 hours to transport truck inspections and taken 658 vehicles out of service. The OPP has laid more than 1,615 speeding charges, 354 distracted driving charges and 963 defective equipment-related charges against transport truck drivers.
